Source: Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
Prot. no.: 334/2023
October 2023
TO BE READ FROM THE PULPIT
Beloved Clergy and Faithful of our Archdiocese:
Greetings in the Name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We pray that you all enjoyed a peaceful and relaxing summer and are working hard as we begin a new ecclesiastical year. 2023 marks the 100th anniversary of our Antiochian Archdiocese. While St. Raphael of Brooklyn established our presence here in 1895 as the Syro-Arab Mission of the Russian Orthodox Church, 1923 is when we became incorporated as an archdiocese of the Patriarchate of Antioch and all the East. These ties were reaffirmed this past summer between our clergy and laity and the Mother Church by the archpastoral visit of our father in Christ, His Beatitude Patriarch JOHN X.
With that in mind, we bring to your attention that October in the Antiochian Archdiocese is “Youth Month and Seminary Month”. This year we have 25 official seminarians studying in five seminaries, including our own Antiochian House of Studies. Most of our students will serve this Archdiocese as priests in the future. They will baptize the catechumens, raise up the youth in the Faith, educate the faithful, comfort the sorrowful, visit the sick, restore the penitent, and heal the broken-hearted. Supporting our future clergy and the institutions that are providing their education and formation is vital to the spiritual health of the parishes and ministries of our Church.
As Christian values are constantly challenged and mocked, and truth becomes more and more relative in our contemporary society, we must do our best to educate our clergy to teach and defend the faith once and for all delivered to the saints. To that end, we ask for your generous donations today to support our seminarians and the institutions that educate them.
May the Lord continue to bless all your efforts in His name and those theological schools that train our future clergy for this high calling.
Yours in the Service of Christ,
Archbishop of New York and Metropolitan of all North America